The way I like to put a Geis on a PC?
1. It shouldn't be so obscure that it never comes up. Remember: A Geis only gives you Momentum if it causes you problems or makes things inconvenient. If you take a Geis of "Things I was going to do anyway" it wouldn't give you Momentum unless it's like... Some kind of ironic thing. Like, the description of the Condition in the Hero book only says "You gain 1 Momentum when obeying your geis causes trouble."
a. Example: If you take the Geis "Cannot pass a celebration without taking part", then being out on vacation and seeing a party before taking part? That won't give you Momentum, because that's not inconveniencing you. However, if you and your Band are out doing Something Important, and your Tuatha Scion sees a Celebration of some kind going on, they can either crash the party and not help with the immediate quest, OR they can ditch and break their Geis. So in your example, taking "You shall oppose Vampires" as a Geis is actually kind of pointless, because then it would only become an inconvenience if the Geis brings you difficulty. And when, in an anti-vampire game, will opposing vampires be inconvenient for the PC?
Other examples of decent Geis may be "Do not leave a lover disappointed", "Do not throw the first blow of a fight", or other similar things. For the sake of playability, a Geis should be something that, if it comes up, will be at the very least minorly inconvenient.
2. As for USING the Geis... Classically, Geasa were laid willy nilly by basically anybody for anything. I'd recommend talking to your players and saving them for certain things. Like after you have a foe defeated, go "We can kill you now, or you can be geised to never again harm mortals. Your choice"
1. It shouldn't be so obscure that it never comes up. Remember: A Geis only gives you Momentum if it causes you problems or makes things inconvenient. If you take a Geis of "Things I was going to do anyway" it wouldn't give you Momentum unless it's like... Some kind of ironic thing. Like, the description of the Condition in the Hero book only says "You gain 1 Momentum when obeying your geis causes trouble."
a. Example: If you take the Geis "Cannot pass a celebration without taking part", then being out on vacation and seeing a party before taking part? That won't give you Momentum, because that's not inconveniencing you. However, if you and your Band are out doing Something Important, and your Tuatha Scion sees a Celebration of some kind going on, they can either crash the party and not help with the immediate quest, OR they can ditch and break their Geis. So in your example, taking "You shall oppose Vampires" as a Geis is actually kind of pointless, because then it would only become an inconvenience if the Geis brings you difficulty. And when, in an anti-vampire game, will opposing vampires be inconvenient for the PC?
Other examples of decent Geis may be "Do not leave a lover disappointed", "Do not throw the first blow of a fight", or other similar things. For the sake of playability, a Geis should be something that, if it comes up, will be at the very least minorly inconvenient.
2. As for USING the Geis... Classically, Geasa were laid willy nilly by basically anybody for anything. I'd recommend talking to your players and saving them for certain things. Like after you have a foe defeated, go "We can kill you now, or you can be geised to never again harm mortals. Your choice"
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